Promising Light (27 page)

Grace hesitated, and Lesado moved
his knife to Dar’s other ear.

“The festival grounds.” Her
stomach twisted with every word. She couldn’t believe what she was
saying.

“About what?” Lesado’s knife
formed a second cut in Dar’s flesh, and Lesado smiled
mockingly.

“I don’t know.”

Dar groaned in pain, trying to shy
away from his knife. “You’re crazy!” he yelled at
Lesado.

Lesado raised his eyebrows, his
dagger moving, the blood flowing down Dar’s neck.

“About the ancient texts or
something,” Grace said, her voice frantic. “That’s it, okay? Stop
it, please.”

Lesado stepped away, nodding to
William and Gareth. William let go of her, and she ran to Dar and
dropped to her knees before him.

“Oh, my goodness, I’m so sorry,”
she said. She took out her handkerchief and put it to his right
ear, which was bleeding more. Grace heard the door open and close
behind her. Her throat constricted as she fought back tears. Once
she thought of them finding Sierra and Evan, a few escaped down her
cheeks.

“You didn’t have to tell them,”
Dar said, and winced when she touched his other ear.

She looked at the manacles on his
wrists. “Are these Mahri?”

“Yes,” Lesado said, and Grace
jumped. She’d forgotten he was even in the room. “He can’t change
with those on.”

“Please, let us go now,” she said.
“I told you where I was going to go.”

“We’re not finished with you yet.”
Lesado left the room, and they were alone.

Grace looked around for a key or
more fabric to staunch the bleeding, but found neither. She tore
some fabric off her dress, and within a few minutes, the blood
coming from the top of his ears was only a small trickle. “I’m
sorry,” she repeated.

“Why were you going to meet them?”
Dar asked.

She just shook her head, too afraid
to speak. They had to be listening.

“This is what I was afraid of,” he
said quietly. “They’ll do anything to stop our magic.”

She gritted her teeth. The
Protectors had gotten away with so much—the curse, what they did to
Vin, and now this. Someone had to fight them. The Avialies were
more powerful with their magic; how did they get into this
position? It wasn’t fair, and their intimidation tactics made her
more angry than scared. Of course, she was terrified, but she had
to keep going.

Dar looked into her eyes, shaking
his head. “Grace, please.”

More tears threatened to spill, and
she tried to blink them away. How could she tell him how she truly
felt when they were surrounded by Protectors, even while they were
alone? He had to know how wrong they were.

“I don’t want anything to happen
to you,” Dar said.

“I know,” Grace whispered. She
leaned in to examine his left ear. This cut wasn’t too deep, just
frightful because of the blood. “But this is my choice.”

He leaned his head to the side,
setting his forehead against her cheek. She closed her eyes,
wishing she could unlock the manacles around him so he could wrap
his arms around her.

She kissed him on the forehead.
“Don’t worry about me.”

The door opened, and Grace’s knees
were weak as she got to her feet. Lesado and Gareth came in. “They
weren’t there,” Lesado said.

Fear seized her and she stepped in
front of Dar. She couldn’t do this again. “That’s where I was
meeting them, I swear.”

“I believe you,” Lesado said
evenly. “They must have gotten tired of waiting.”

“Are you going to let us go?”
Grace asked.

“Yes.” Lesado motioned for Grace
to move so he could face Dar. She hesitated, then took a step to
the right, still remaining close to him. “I’ll take off these
manacles. You’re not going to cause trouble, are you?”

“No,” Dar said, his jaw
set.

Lesado pulled a key out of his
pocket and unlocked the manacles. Dar visibly relaxed, and Grace
swore more color flooded to his face. He stood up, stumbled, and
Grace reached out to steady him. The door opened again, and William
stepped inside. He saw Grace’s arm on Dar’s waist, and his jaw
tightened.

“Your Highness.” Dar stepped away
from Grace and looked at Lesado. “May I leave now?”

“Shouldn’t someone look at your
cuts?” Grace asked.

He glanced over his shoulder and
gave Grace a tight smile. “No, you’re a fine nurse.”

“You’re free to go,” Lesado said.
“Gareth will escort you out.”

Dar walked to the door, bowing to
William as he passed him. He paused in the doorway and looked at
Grace. “Grace, please listen to reason. You shouldn’t have anything
to do with my family.”

Grace didn’t respond. She’d already
said all she had to say.

Gareth walked into the corridor,
but Dar hesitated. He glanced from Grace to William, his gaze hard.
“And is Lady Grace staying here? We’re headed to the stables if
she’d like to walk with us.”

“Lady Grace is attending the games
with me,” William said stiffly.

She looked at him incredulously.
After all of this, he still wanted her to go to those blasted
games? She forced her anger down, not wanting to bring Dar anymore
harm. “I’d like to go home.”

William turned his eyes on her, his
mouth falling open, and then he clenched his jaw. “Lady Grace, we
had an agreement.”

“I said I would go to the games
because you were threatening to follow me to my appointment,” Grace
said, her voice unsteady. “Now I’m not going to my appointment. I’m
going home.”

She inclined her head in something
like a bow, and William said something about escorting her to the
stables. Dar and Gareth left the room ahead of her, and William
fell into step beside her. She couldn’t even look at him for fear
she may yell at him. At the same time, she wanted to break down and
weep. In front of her, Dar’s neck and shirt were covered with
blood.

The walk to the stables was long
and silent. A few servants looked at Dar curiously, but he ignored
them. When they reached the stables, Dar mounted his horse and left
without a word. Grace tried not to watch him for very long, aware
of the prince’s gaze on her. She wished they’d seen each other on
better terms. She’d imagined seeing him again after that night at
Belisha, and their reunion was nothing like this.

The same stable boy from before
brought out her horse. “He’ll escort you home,” William said
tightly.

“Of course,” she said.

He took her arm and pulled her
close. The action may have seemed gentle to outsiders, but his grip
on her arm was painful. She struggled not to pull away, looking him
steadily in the face. “I’ve never been so insulted in my life,” he
whispered.

She felt a trickle of fear, but
pushed it away. With raised eyebrows, she asked, “No one’s ever
lied to you before?”

“This isn’t about lying. It’s
about you.” A muscle in his jaw twitched. “After everything I did
for you. You have no idea how much I’ve defended you.”

Grace didn’t have the courage to
give him anymore cheek. Instead, she fell into the habit of saying
what people wanted to hear, even if it was lies. “It was one
meeting. I was still curious. I just don’t understand it at all,
the whole war. I… I’m sorry.” She forced out the last word. If
anything, she was sorry for letting him manipulate her out of the
meeting.

William’s face softened, and he let
go of her arm. “You’re not going to do it again.” Not a question, a
statement.

She didn’t respond, just looked to
her horse.

“I’m sure you thought you’d see
Dar again under better circumstances.”

“Yes, I never expected you’d work
with men who’d torture someone just to find out about my
friends.”

“Friends?” William scoffed. “That
was a meeting about the ancient texts, about helping the Avialies,
and you—you are just getting yourself into trouble.”

“I already apologized. I’m tired,
and I’d like to go home.”

“Just be careful.” His voice was
low, his eyes narrowed. “The Protectors are growing tired of your
antics… I don’t know… short of marriage, I don’t know what will
redeem you.”

Grace stared at him for a moment,
trying to figure out what he meant, and then her eyes widened.
Marriage to the prince. As though her father had no say as a
Protector. She stepped toward her horse. “Good afternoon, your
Highness.”

He inclined his head to her. “Good
afternoon, Lady Grace.”

* * *

Grace sat in the closet, trying to
breathe quietly so the servants wouldn’t be able to hear her. They
were too loud, blocking out the voices of her father and two
Protectors, Tisha and Kilar. They’d shown up just after dinner, and
after Father introduced them, they went to Father’s study. She
searched for a way to eavesdrop and finally found the kitchen
closet which sat directly under the room where they
spoke.

She waited for the servants to
leave, trying to hear the others over them. Finally they quieted
and left. She could hear the voices again. Before the servants came
in, they’d been exchanging pleasantries.

“Well, Daniel, you understand we
need to do something.” It was Tisha, the taller man with ink black
hair.

“Like what?” Father
said.

“We have a few different ideas,”
Tisha responded. “We could kill Dar.”

Grace put a hand over her mouth to
cover her gasp. No, no, no. Could she live with herself knowing
Dar’s death was her fault? Wasn’t a small part of her doing this
for him? But wait—did that mean her father knew about her and
Dar?

As though hearing her unspoken
question, Father asked, “You think she’ll care about
him?”

Kilar chuckled. He was shorter with
thinning hair. Of the two, Grace couldn’t tell which was more in
charge. They both seemed important from the way Father acted around
them, humble and accommodating. “Tisha, he doesn’t know about the
two of them.”

Her heart sank.

“Why not?” A moment of silence.
“Daniel, they were together. We’re not sure how long, but we sent a
man to warn her. Shortly after that, Dar went back to
Shyra.”

“Together?” Father repeated, as if
he didn’t understand.

“They had a secret courtship while
he was courting Lady Rebekah.”

Grace heard the scraping of chairs,
a groan. She squeezed her eyes shut.

“Did he sleep with her?” Father
asked, his voice loud.

“We don’t think so.”

“Why would she do that?” Father
sounded frustrated, confused.

“We’re not sure… young love,
perhaps. That’s why they kidnapped her, why we used Dar to find out
where she was going today. It’s why his death would mean something
to her.”

Father grumbled something, and
Grace swallowed. Not Dar, please not Dar. Is this how he felt when
he’d heard about the kidnapping? Worried about her safety,
wondering what he could do to prevent anything from happening? She
wondered how far she’d be willing to go to keep him safe. But there
was so much more to this than just the two of them. What about the
Avialies?

“What else?” Father
asked.

“The prince wants to marry her,”
Tisha said. “He’s fond of her, and she seems fond of him. Their
marriage may be able to deter her from them.”

“But it’s not a guarantee,” Kilar
said. “It would only be a guarantee if she loved him.”

“If she felt half of what she
feels for Dar,” Tisha added. “I haven’t seen them together, but
we’ve heard stories from Lesado.”

Father’s voice was unintelligible
for a moment, then he asked, “How strong is it between the two of
them? Grace and that Avialie?”

“Hard to say,” Tisha said. “We saw
them twice and they seemed… very affectionate. But they’ve hardly
talked since he left. Dar made a deal with us that he wouldn’t see
her anymore, and it seemed like he had the intention of keeping it.
It’s hard to tell with them, though. He could be telling his family
a completely different thing.”

“I’ll kill him.”

“If we decide to do that, you
should be on her side. We don’t want to drive her away.”

Grace felt as though she was going
to be sick. The dark closet was stifling her, and she couldn’t
believe the things she was hearing.

A moment later, Kilar said, “With
the prince, we could get a love potion from the Mahris.”

A love potion? Those were
real?

“It would have to be very strong,
though, and we’d have to keep giving it to her over a long period
of time,” Kilar said. “It would be very expensive.”

“Too expensive and too dangerous,”
Tisha added.

“At least she wouldn’t be with
that damn Avialie,” Father said. For an irrational moment Grace
wondered what her mother would think about this
conversation.